Fox Launches New Multiplatform Studio Led by Former Entertainment Chief Gail Berman

Fox is launching a company, Sidecar, a “content development accelerator” that will be lead by former Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman.

The new unit will “ride” side-by-side with Fox Entertainment, expanding its reach by identifying and incubating programming both for the Fox and third-party platforms. Under Berman’s leadership, Sidecar will be responsible for developing scripted and unscripted programming to complement the active development of Fox.

Fox Entertainment will retain ownership of all series that originate under the Sidecar banner.

The announcement comes as Fox is about to be slimmed down following the sale of 21st Century Fox’s film and TV assets to Disney. Fox Broadcasting, Fox News and Fox Sports will be formed into a new company, Fox Corporation, with the studio and cable assets going over to Disney. With Sidecar, it appears Fox will try to have some type of in-house studio.

“The beauty of a Sidecar is that the riders are literally headed in the same direction, and having Gail Berman riding shotgun is about as good as it gets,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier. “Michael Thorn, Rob Wade and their teams have Fox firing on all cylinders. So, extending their reach and allowing creators another door through which to access our brands, business and executives is the right strategic move at the time we need it. I’m a great admirer of Gail’s work as both a producer and executive. The respect she commands, her impeccable taste and the meaningful relationships she’s amassed will help fuel Fox Entertainment with quality programming and allow Michael and Rob an even greater palate from which to paint. Everybody wins.”

Berman was Fox’s entertainment president from 2000 to 2005 and was president of Paramount Pictures from 2005 to 2007. Berman’s own production studio, The Jackal Group, will continue as a separate entity.

When it comes to TV, winter is typically no fall -- but a few of these series premieres could have made the cut for an earlier start, ratings-wise. TheWrap has ranked all of broadcast's midseason debuts by their "live" total-viewer tallies. A pair of new singing competitions were impressive, a kinda-sorta reboot on The CW was not. Scroll through our gallery for the Nielsen returns from the 20 debuts we've seen. Find our Fall TV version of these rankings here.

When it comes to TV, winter is typically no fall -- but a few of these series premieres could have made the cut for an earlier start, ratings-wise. TheWrap has ranked all of broadcast's midseason debuts by their "live" total-viewer tallies. A pair of new singing competitions were impressive, a kinda-sorta reboot on The CW was not. Scroll through our gallery for the Nielsen returns from the 20 debuts we've seen. Find our Fall TV version of these rankings here.